The North Equatorial Current

Links: Please click on the links below to learn more about the North Equatorial current. Example Plots are below the Links.

Charting Neptune's Realm: The Enigma of Currents (Sailors and the NEC)
Suloys: Oceanography from the Space Shuttle (Photo of a convergence zone in the NEC)
Ocean Highways - by Thor Heyerdahl
The oceanic circulation of the tropical Atlantic, and its variability, as observed during GATE. (Abstract of ocean observations in tropical Atlantic)
Equatorial Atlantic Snapshot of the 1/16° Global NLOM SSH and currents from NRL Stennis
OSCAR - Ocean Surface Current Analysis - Real time. (ESR)

Example Plots: Clicking on a thumbnail image loads a larger image, clicking on the figure number downloads a PostScript image.

Figure 1.   The North Equatorial Current (NEC) as represented by the Mariano Global Surface Velocity Analysis (MGSVA). The NEC is the broad westward flow that is the southern component of the N. Atlantic subtropical gyre. It is fed by the Canary Current and its waters eventually end up in the Gulf Stream system, either via the Antilles current or through the Caribbean via the Guiana current. Click here for example plots of seasonal averages.

Figure 2.   Global Ocean Surface Velocities from Drifters    (top panel w/ SST, bottom panel w/ Speed)    Figure Caption is Under Construction. Click here for example plots of seasonal averages.

Figure 3.   There is a strong seasonal signal in the North Equatorial Current (NEC). The NEC is weak at the end of the end of winter and early spring. The NEC increases its flow during summer and fall. The westward transport of relatively cool water by the NEC from the eastern tropical Atlantic, offshore of Africa, leads to lower SST values in the ocean interior that what is observed at comparable latitudes in the western tropical Atlantic. ( Click the thumbnail to play the animation. )

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

Figure 6.

Figure 7.   The path of these buoys all illustrate the retroflection of the North Brazil Current, that feeds the North Equatorial Counter-Current (NECC) and subsequently, the North Equatorial Current (NEC). Buoy 0019118 travels thousands of km eastward in the NECC before being entrained into the westward flowing NEC near 21°W.

Figure 8.   In contrast to the buoys in figure 2, both these buoys were in the Canary Current before entering the westward flowing North Equatorial Current (NEC). More or less, these buoys stay near the northern boundary of the NEC before entering the Antilles Current.

Figure 9.   AVRRR image of the sea-surface temperature (SST).

Figure 10.   Geography of the region.

Figure 11.   Topography/Bathymetry of the region.

	Figure 1. The North Equatorial Current (NEC) as represented by the Mariano Global Surface Velocity Analysis (MGSVA). The NEC is the broad westward flow that is the southern component of the N. Atlantic subtropical gyre. It is fed by the Canary Current and its waters eventually end up in the Gulf Stream system, either via the Antilles current or through the Caribbean via the Guiana current. Click here for example plots of seasonal averages.
	Figure 2. Global Ocean Surface Velocities from Drifters (top panel w/ SST, bottom panel w/ Speed) Figure Caption is Under Construction. Click here for example plots of seasonal averages.
	Figure 3. There is a strong seasonal signal in the North Equatorial Current (NEC). The NEC is weak at the end of the end of winter and early spring. The NEC increases its flow during summer and fall. The westward transport of relatively cool water by the NEC from the eastern tropical Atlantic, offshore of Africa, leads to lower SST values in the ocean interior that what is observed at comparable latitudes in the western tropical Atlantic. ( Click the thumbnail to play the animation. )
	Figure 4.
	Figure 5.
	Figure 6.
	Figure 7. The path of these buoys all illustrate the retroflection of the North Brazil Current, that feeds the North Equatorial Counter-Current (NECC) and subsequently, the North Equatorial Current (NEC). Buoy 0019118 travels thousands of km eastward in the NECC before being entrained into the westward flowing NEC near 21°W.
	Figure 8. In contrast to the buoys in figure 2, both these buoys were in the Canary Current before entering the westward flowing North Equatorial Current (NEC). More or less, these buoys stay near the northern boundary of the NEC before entering the Antilles Current.
	Figure 9. AVRRR image of the sea-surface temperature (SST).
	Figure 10. Geography of the region.
	Figure 11. Topography/Bathymetry of the region.